Worker Creates Petition To Stop Early Black Friday Sales
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Each year, stores seem to open up earlier and earlier to offer "Black Friday" deals.
One upset Target worker said the early openings are ruining Thanksgiving and now he's trying to stop it by putting together an online petition.
Anthony Hardwick, a part-time Target worker from Omaha, Neb., started the petition after he found out he'd have to leave his Thanksgiving dinner early to go to work that night.
He, along with all of the other people who signed the petition, are asking Target to push back its store openings from midnight to 5 a.m. on Friday. Nearly 80,000 people have signed the petition and that number keeps growing.
Target isn't the only store opening earlier than normal; Kohl's; Best Buy, Toys 'R Us and Macy's are just a few of the other stores opening at midnight. Walmart is opening even earlier -- at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving.
Target responded to the petition by saying that they are not planning on changing the opening time. They said customers would rather shop after their Thanksgiving celebrations instead of getting up in the middle of the night.
A ConsumerSearch Survey shows most of America agrees with Hardwick. About 87 percent think all stores should be closed on Thanksgiving Day. That's compared to the 11 percent that like the stores to be open.
Still, 61 percent of people said they like to hit the stores on Black Friday to get the deals.
